ALVA B.V., a provider of assistive information technology for the blind and visually-impaired, has quit developing outSPOKEN or inLARGE, ALVA’s screen reader and screen enlarger for Macs.
outSPOKEN allows blind and visually impaired people to use Macs. Its talking interface announces virtually everything on the screen. inLARGE magnifies the screen image to aid those with poor eyesight.
“ALVA is very committed to assistive technology and we’re proud we helped raise the performance and feature bar with these Macintosh products,” said Eric Weldink, president and CEO of ALVA, said in a statement regarding the decision. “The market has changed, however, and our resources are best directed towards producing stand-alone products with dedicated user interfaces tailored to the needs of our customers – blind and low-vision IT and personal technology users.”
outSPOKEN for Mac 9.2 and inLARGE for Mac 2.1 will be available for the remainder of the year; all warranties and documented service agreements will be honored.
Larry Klug works at the Ohio branch of the Clovernook Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired as a computer skills instructor. “It’s a sad day for Mac users who are blind and visually impaired,” Klug told MacCentral.